Domestic and International Trends in Animal Experiments and the Implementation System at Niigata University.

<p>In Japan, animal experimentation is defined as the use of animals for educational, experimental research or production of biological products, or for other scientific purposes. The implementation system for animal experiments is based on the laws and regulations that have been revised or issued by 2006, such as the Act on Welfare and Management of Animals (Ministry of the Environment), Standards relating to the Care and Keeping and Reducing Pain of Laboratory Animals (Ministry of the Environment), Fundamental Guide-lines for Proper Conduct of Animal Experiment and Related Activities in Academic Research Institutions (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), and Guidelines for the Proper Conduct of Animal Experiments (Science Council of Japan), etc. An institutional management system was established in which the head of the institution is ultimately responsible for the proper conduct of animal experiments, and the implementing institution prepares institutional regulations and conducts animal experiments in an appropriate manner. The framework of this institutional management is as follows: the researcher is responsible for planning and carrying out the experiment in consideration of animal welfare in order for the researcher to conduct free and creative scientific research; the head of the implementing institution should establish institutional regulations for animal experiments, set up an animal experiment committee, approve the animal experiment plan, and take necessary measures for the proper implementation of the animal experiment plan, such as monitoring the results of the animal experiment plan. The head of the implementing institution is responsible for the proper implementation of the animal experiment, as stated in the following: the head of the institution is responsible for the planning of the animal experiment plan and the execution of the experiment, and the head of the implementing institution is responsible for the planning of the animal experiment plan and the execution of the animal experiment. At universities, research institutes, and other institutions that conduct animal experiments, animal experiment plans are reviewed for appropriateness by the institutionʼs animal experiment committee under the aforementioned laws and regulations as well as the rules of the conducting institution, and animal experiments are conducted after receiving approval from the head of the institution. Often, experiments using wild animals other than laboratory animals or experiments conducted at locations other than animal experiment facilities are also applied for. The Animal Experiment Committee, which examines such plans, collects relevant information, and carries out various procedures and innovations to ensure the proper implementation of experiments that differ from those using laboratory animals or at animal experiment facilities. This paper presents examples of experiment plans consulted to the Education and Training Committee in charge of the Council for Animal Experimentation Facilities of National University Corporation (Kokudokyo), as well as examples of experiment plans at Niigata University. Specifically, (1) as examples of cases received by the ″Anything Goes Consultation Room″ of the Education and Training Committee of the National Association of University Animal Experimentation Institutes, responses to cases such as research using wild animals that were subject to capture of harmful birds and animals, and (2) research using seabirds (Black-tailed gull) living in the domestic ocean and research using the Japanese striped snakes living on islands as cases from Niigata University will be introduced.</p>